the Pink debate

While Singapore is still a very conservative Asian society, the powers that be have allowed us mere mortals to celebrate the equality to love.  It's still a very sensitive and highly debated subject but....

the friends and me, notice the barricades..

This weekend we gathered at Hong Lim Park ( which is where we have our speakers corner but then we need a permit to go speak there…) for the annual Pink Dot Rally, a day where the LGBT community and those who support them, gather to celebrate the equality to love.

Our powers that be had to show that while they allowed ‘these people’ to gather and celebrate they had to also show that they did not encourage such behaviour.  As its usually held at Hong Lim Park, the Powers that be decreed that only Singapore Citizens and permanent residents were allowed to attend the Rally as any rally held at Hong Lim was for Citizens and permanent residents only.  They also decreed that only local sponsors could sponser this event.

The powers that be probably thought this event will die a natural death as no local company would openly show support.  They were wrong. 120 local companies and 20,000 Singaporeans showed up yesterday.  Even with barricades and security to check our Identity cards, Singaporeans turned up to show their support.

the Pink  dot on the office building

LGBT rights will divide people,  one colleague in the office was appalled that our boss was supporting the cause by having the Pink Dot logos on our building.  She even went on to say that if we ever were to pitch for an LGBT event or LGBT related event, she would refuse to do it.

Another colleague who has gay friends, says while she likes her friends she won't be able to attend their wedding as she believes it's wrong for people of the same sex to wed as her beliefs say marriage is between a man and a woman.  She also went on to tell me what her pastor said about accepting everyone's right to love…. The Pastor said “Isn't it the same as a couple who are father and child but who have sex, shouldn’t people accept that too, and people who wanted to have sex with animals,  shouldn’t people accept their right to ‘love’ too”

Listening to her, I was quite flabbergasted that the pastor used those examples to argue on the right to love..  So I tried to counter the point especially about the incest and what constitutes consent as well.  2 adults consenting is different from a father and child or an animal. 

It's something that one can argue about all day, what constitutes the right to love, who's right and   who's wrong, everyone has an opinion on this and everyone has the right to believe what they want, as long as they don’t force an opinion down someone's throat, I don’t really care what they think.  I for one am wholly supportive of same sex marriage, same sex relationships and if you wanted to have sex with a goat or camel well I doubt I would approve but...

20,000 Singaporeans showed up

LGBT, Inter racial relationships, discrimination based on skin colour, gender and yes even agesim... Its time to look at the world differently, it's time to push prejudices and discrimination aside allow people to choose who they want to love.
While I identify with discrimination I cannot think how people must feel hiding who they really are just because someone once said love and marriage must be between a man and a woman, we all deserve to be happy in our own skins.